


Wild Love

by MidnightField



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, BTW, Blood, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Gore, I PRESENT, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Interrupting Wynonna Earp, Is already established, LGBT, Lesbian, Multi, My people, Plot, Revenants, Supportive Earp Siblings (Wynonna Earp), Violence, Wayhaught - Freeform, Werewolf, Werewolf AU, a lot of werewolf puns, but bulshar still doesnt exist oops, etc - Freeform, i cant write smut so i dont think ill write it, idk my english grade is low for a reason, im hyping this up, in a world where bulshar has not risen, ish, maybe one person did, not a canon au tho lol, the AU that no one asked for, the gays™, the little ginger cat™ makes an appearance hoes, there arent many werewolf AUs so i feel as though im doing gods work tbh, there is p l o t, there probably will be, this starts in that little gap between season 2 and season 3, to get you through the hiatus, werewolf!Nicole, woah its my first tv show fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-28 19:46:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16248590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightField/pseuds/MidnightField
Summary: In which the town is crawling with the supernatural, you would think to add one more to the roster wouldn't matter, right?That would be the case if said supernatural being wasn't so calamitous and in close proximity to a woman that could send her to hell at any moment.Introducing Nicole Rayleigh Haught, a gay mess with one big secret.





	1. A Big Problem

**Author's Note:**

> For my friend Jayne, ily (@Wayhaughtmybabies // Instagram)

 

It was October; the sky that had once been a luscious cerulean in the afternoon was now hindering on sunset at around four. The clouds that striped the sky were used sparingly and emitted this hubristic aura from the way they soaked up the golden rays on the underbelly of that white fluff, nevertheless, that yellow hue would soon seep away like a retracting tide as the sun dipped further beyond the horizon. One could stare at this view for hours, taking in every detail and flinching at every breeze. 

In this position was a lonely cop, leaning on the edge hood of her squad car. She was at the boundary of the little town, appropriately named Purgatory, that she called home, asking for a little quiet. It was crazy back there when your days are filled with demon hunting and trying to balance the workload of being a cop. With striking ginger hair and smile that could light up the darkest days, to anyone else she was unmistakable: Nicole Haught, the city girl gone country. To an outsider, it would seem she would have chosen this life purely for the quietness and tranquillity yet that was simply not the case. 

You see, Nicole isn't like you or anyone else. She's different. Whether it's a good different or a different that would raise some eyebrows, she's still not the same as anyone else.

 _'One in a million'_  was a phrase her girlfriend Waverly tended to use.  _No kidding,_  Nicole would think.

It was not a matter of  _who_  she was, more  _what_  she was.

At that very moment, she felt a heavy rumble at the back of her throat and without even taking a moment to think she concluded it was time to go home.

"Not now, Nicole," she grumbled to herself, sliding into her squad car and adjusting the mirror, "it's not even that time of the month yet."

She paused.

"Not what I meant."

It took her several seconds to stuff the key into the hole as her hands were trying to break from their icy prisons and allow the blood back. In Purgatory the winters hit hard and started early, hence why October was dropping into the single digits. Once she'd got her car running, she balled her hands into fits and blew into the little nook her thumb created before deeming her hands able enough to steer.

The journey was simple enough, one dirt track and another more commercially friendly road and then she was home. Almost ten minutes into the trip she facepalmed, suddenly remembering her plans for that night.

"Goddammit⎯ Waverly!" Nicole exasperated, "wait, no, it's..."

The cop blinked for a second, realising she'd cocked up her calendar again. 

"No, no, it's tomorrow, isn't it?" Nicole spoke to herself and began trying to wrack her brain to give herself answers, "the full moon is..."

She slammed her hand on the steering wheel before smacking her head against it.

"It's today!"

Her arms slumped dramatically into her lap with the tips of her fingers barely touching the wheel; she couldn't believe she'd done it again. Last month she'd planned to stay around at the homestead for a night as Wynonna was busy visiting Alice outside of Purgatory. The two had, had the place to themselves and were obviously basking in the advantages of having a house to yourself, alone with your girlfriend. All was going well, the two had decided to watch Frozen, Waverly's idea, when Nicole felt a similar rumble in her throat. She hadn't paid much attention to it as she was convinced she'd got the days right and perhaps this was some pre-full moon thing yet after spotting a lonesome deer outside the window wandering the grounds, Nicole felt a sudden urge in her chest. That's when she decided to leave early due to "feeling unwell." 

A cruel world she lived in where every day was an inner battle between her emotions and keeping it together. One wrong move and it'd all come crashing down.

She gulped and slipped her hand to fumble about her khaki trouser pocket for her cellphone.

Maybe Waverly would understand? It all came down to what excuse Nicole used.

"Hey, Waves?" Nicole mumbled into her phone as she held it between her face and neck,

"Hey, cutie!" Waverly's flowery reply sent butterflies through the cop's chest, almost distracting her from what she was on the phone to do,

"So, urh, I called to say⎯"

"⎯Are you cancelling on me again?" Waverly interrupted, an obvious irritation coating her voice,

"Well, I uh⎯"

"⎯Nope. We've planned this for weeks now. I made it my mission to arrange movie nights around Wynonna's timetable and while still giving you time in advance. You're not bailing again."

"Waverly, this just came up⎯"

"What came up? What is so important that you only think to tell me an hour before we're scheduled to see each other?"

Nicole paused and chewed on the bottom of her lip as she pondered an answer.

"It's..." her non-idiomatic response was grating with Waverly and Nicole could tell, "Nedley. He needs me to work an extra shift tonight."

Nicole could almost feel the coldness on the other end of the line and actively slowed her driving speed to accommodate for her discomfort.

"Right..." Waverly sighed into the phone, "... tomorrow then?"

The cop loosened up at the audible shift in Waverly's tone. She was still tired and sick of her girlfriend's antics, but Waverly still wanted to see her: even if that meant waiting another twenty-four hours.

"I'll drop in tomorrow morning and take you to work," Nicole smiled a little to herself,

"Don't bail on me though, I need that ride," Waverly laughed a little,

"I promise," Nicole resumed her normal acceleration and turned off onto her road,

"Alright, see you later, my love,"

"Bye, baby," Nicole hummed and clicked the end call button just as she stopped in front of her house.

She stepped out of the car and stared to the home that felt so alien to her now. She was so used to waking up at Waverly's side with an arm draped over her lover's side and all those bonus blankets. Don't get her wrong, sometimes the jejune nature of her home was all she needed after a long day and not the irksome tendency of Wynonna constantly interrupting her and Waverly. That said, a full moon alone was not one Nicole was overly zealous for.

"I guess it's just me, myself, and I tonight."

* * *

 

It was almost nine in the morning; the birds were performing their early symphony throughout the forest and waking up the day creatures while also ushering the night ones away. The luminous beams that were ploughing through twisted branches of the forest weaved amongst the sagacious trees and left cascading shadows along the muddy floor, while a morning like this seemed peaceful and barren of life, it acted as a coverup for the bustling night that had just come.

The seemingly empty forest had but one reluctant visitor. A man adorned with jeans too tight to be appropriate and a brown, leather jacket lined with a soft wool stood tall amongst the verdant environment. His eyes that seemed aged further than his body scanned around the trees, but they hid an underlying fear behind those brown orbs.

He hated the forest. But Xavier Dolls  _always_  got the job done.

He pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and peered over the screen for a second, taking in all the information when a twig snapped unexpectedly behind him. A normal person would've turned at such a harsh sound, but he only blinked.

"I thought you'd never get here, Earp," his smile came through with his tone,

"You said it was an emergency, but I suspect you only said that so I'd be on time," Wynonna trudged over the logs and fallen leaves to reach her coworker, "what's the situation?"

"Look at the trees," he stared out once more, but this time he was squinting ever so slightly, 

"What about the... oh..." Wynonna followed his view and a heavy confusion settled, "why are they like that?"

Some of the trees had become almost serpentine and were bent in unnatural positions with branches forming knots and whole tree trunks had been snapped in half with most only having deep gashes along their bark. They warned of a pernicious presence as no normal creature could've inflicted such damage upon these ancient trees.

"No clue," Dolls replied, crossing his arms to conserve some warmth,

"Could it have been something supernatural?"

"Perhaps... but we can't jump to conclusions yet," Dolls hummed to himself, bringing his hand to cup his chin,

"Well, I would not want to cross paths with whatever did this," Wynonna brushed her fingers over the torn branches with a delicacy she was not aware of having, it was almost out of character.

"So..." Dolls smiled a little, moving his hands into his coat pockets,

"So," Wynonna replied with a smile of the same enthusiasm.

"Hello...!" A voice came suddenly that was so flowery and full of sweetness that it was unmistakable,

"Waverly?" Wynonna turned on her heel to face out to the rows and rows of trees,

"And Nicole!" Waverly responded, coming out from behind a bush, "we came as soon as you called, Dolls,"

"I appreciate it," the stoic man responded,

"What did you need?" Nicole asked, appearing behind Waverly, 

"Take a look for yourself," Dolls gestured widely to the area of carnage,

"Woah..." Waverly blinked, stepping forward to get a closer examination.

Nicole seemed a lot more hesitant to take a look and only peered over her girlfriend's shoulder. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were not focusing on one point for too long. If she hadn't been standing a few feet in front of Dolls and Wynonna, she was sure the two would've picked up on her strange behaviour.

"Any ideas?" Waverly asked, turned to face the trio,

"None that seem quote, unquote, 'normal'" Wynonna made speech marks with her fingers and leaned heavily on her back foot,

"A revenant...?" Her sister questioned, 

"No revenant has displayed such strength to create damage like this," Dolls interrupted,

"Maybe we should get Jeremy down here to search for DNA?" Waverly suggested and Nicole visibly squirmed, "something wrong?"

"No," Nicole answered quickly, "just cold."

She was, in fact, the opposite. She could feel herself burning up with fear, part of her wanted to just run and keep going but the other part had rationality and order. She just had to wait it out.

"Doubt there's going to be much to find," Dolls sighed, "how old do you think this is?"

"The leaves here still looked disturbed," Waverly pointed to a spot where the mud and greenery had been moved through the sheer force of a tree trunk crashing down to the ground, "has to be a couple hours,"

"I guess you're right, it wouldn't hurt to bring Jeremy down to take a look," Dolls nodded more to himself,

"Doesn't Robin do some forest job? He should know a little about the wildlife here," Waverly asked,

"Robin did Jazz history," Wynonna deadpanned, "he'd have no clue."

As the others were conversing, Nicole stepped forward and looked to the damage. She brushed a gloved hand over the torn bark and almost winced as her eyes scanned every snap and every dead leaf. The fact she could barely remember even coming in this direction the night before left a sick feeling at the pit of her stomach. What else did she do?

It felt as though the others were hot on her trail or at least finally uncovering it. The images of what they'd do to her crossed her mind and she tried desperately to shake them off in an attempt to keep a neutral expression but her eyes were devoid of substance and emotion as she pictured shackles and so many needles. The blood samples, the poking and prodding, what would Waverly think?

"Hey..." A hand rested softly on the cop's shoulder, "are you okay?"

Nicole turned her head for her face to appear almost inches from Waverly's.

"I'm fine... just... thinking," Nicole turned her head back, blinking herself back to the present,

"You sure? You look as though you've seen a ghost," Waverly's light laugh chimed in the ginger's ear like church bells,

"Really, I'm just deep in thought," she gulped, "just wondering who⎯what could've done this."

"Who?"

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised in this town if someone had done this."

"Good point, whatever it was, hopefully, it's long gone by now," Waverly sighed, leaning onto Nicole's shoulder.

Nicole wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Yeah... I hope so too."

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Howl-a-ween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Halloween and Purgatory is all for the celebrations: Nicole is not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly filler but also has information, context and explanations for the "universe" this is (?)
> 
> Gives Nicole's story and character some f l e s h (why did i use that comparison) while also throwing in some dynamics of the Wynhaught BrOTP and the the gays interacting 
> 
> Also, FIRST FACE-TO-FACE WAYHAUGHT SO FAR

The time A small amount of time had passed since the investigation in the woods, it was now deep October and everyone was in the swing of things. The Autumn sun had set at a ridiculous hour, leaving the town in a fog of darkness. While in summer, this Arcadian lifestyle was a dream but once the warmth left and the darker evenings came crawling in all joy was lost. That was until Halloween, however.

The town boomed with life with spooky markets and campfire ghost stories in the meadows. A time of joy with a hint of mischief and the risk of calamity: especially in a place like Purgatory. The days dwindled on lacklustre but the nights brought mystery. There would be unnatural fogs that swept across the town and high winds that'd make your windows clatter and rumble, tree branches would knock on the glass while the breeze would open your wardrobe door. At this time of year, the forests became barren and like a neverending maze that contained rugged paths surrounded with dense needle-tipped bushes, there were derelict log houses that children had likely constructed in the summer and tales of apparitions being spotted around the place. Now ghostly in its desolation, the forest was a place for peace. 

While for most, Halloween was a time for enjoyment, not everyone thought of it in that way.

In Nicole's case, October, especially Halloween, brought a sort of instability with her transformations. The moon, while to most would seemingly be the same as any other month, is stronger during Halloween: though it might not always be visible, Nicole sure as hell felt its presence. The Blood Moon brought by October made transformations more painful, her demeanour more aggressive and shaving an absolute nightmare. She might have been on the edge before, but now more than ever.

"Nicole!" Wynonna grinned and the ginger jumped a little, her plastic cup falling and she scrambled to keep it in her hand, "oops,"

"You scared me," Nicole's laugh seemed forced and the way her eyes wouldn't focus on one thing for long unsettled Wynonna a little,

"Clearly..." Wynonna raised her brows, "anyway, I came to say that Jeremy found something,"

"Oh?" Nicole gripped the cup tighter, had Wynonna come to confront her? Shoot her right then and there? What kind of sick reveal was this? Hey, I know you're my sister's girlfriend and all, but you're supernatural and we can't have that!

"He found traces of human DNA on the trees," Wynonna took a serious tone and Nicole's face dropped, "but they were too scrambled to even identify where they came from."

Nicole loosened, a metaphorical weight being lifted off her shoulders and she visibly slouched now.

"What does that mean then?" Nicole urged, wanting to see where they'd go after this; were they close or not to snuffing her out,

"Well... we can see that this 'creature' has DNA mixed with an animal," Wynonna leaned on the counter, "has Waverly told you any of this?"

"Nope. Haven't really seen her," Nicole gulped, it was her fault the two hadn't met up again, "I-I mean, I took her to work on this morning... but that's kind of it,"

"Ah, I see," Wynonna's resting smile faltered, "well, Waverly was looking through the archives and found police reports dating a couple decades back to wolf-people being spotted in the forests, but the sightings went quiet almost ten years ago⎯"

"⎯Until now..." Nicole rubbed her chin and acted as if this was all new to her, "So you're thinking these _wolf-people_  have returned?"

"Exactly," Wynonna grinned, "I'm ready for a new fur coat,"

"Hah," Nicole blinked, "me too."

"We're trying to figure out when they came back. If you're interested, Jeremy has been trying to piece back the DNA and Waverly has been mapping out possible locations they'd be found based off of previous sightings: check it out if you want,"

"I will," Nicole smiled and nodded as Wynonna turned and left the cop alone in her thoughts.

There were closing in and she knew it, how much time did she have before they finally tracked her down?

"Well, shit..." Nicole whispered, once she finally felt completely alone.

She dragged a hand down her face and groaned into her palm.

"Might as well see how far along they've gotten..." She sighed, pulling herself together and heading into the research room.

The place was in disarray with one bench being used as an impromptu science lab and another as a doughnut box stack. Wheeled whiteboards were scattered about the room and diagrams were scribbled along them with maths equations to coincide: obviously Jeremy's work. Another board, more neatly organised, had maps and dated pictures stuck on with "To-do lists" scribbled on post-it notes. Nicole approached that board and glanced over the list written in cursive: get groceries; continue mapping; organise that god damn movie marathon with Nicole (that one was underlined three times).

"Oh, hey Nicole!" Came from behind the cop, she turned around quickly to be face to face with the man that seemed to be unravelling her secret,

"Jeremy! Hi!" Nicole grinned, hiding the fear behind joy, "just taking a look at what you lot have done so far,"

"Ah! Fantastic," he beamed, gesturing to a whiteboard that was covered in equations, "I'm creating an algorithm based on previous sightings to predict the creature's next appearance,"

"Mhm hm," Nicole's hum was rather blunt, she pretended to look enthralled by the scribbles, "so... where do you think they'll go next,"

"Based on previous results..." Jeremy walked past Nicole and to the board with maps and pointed, "they'd likely turn up right around here. We're hoping to catch them on Halloween as that's when their power will be most active so it's going to be a big night."

"Right..." Nicole looked to the map at where her coworker's finger was and her eyes widened.

"Hey, isn't that near your house?" Jeremy looked to her,

"Uh.." Nicole blanked out for a second, "yeah, it is,"

"Might wanna stay somewhere else for a few days," Jeremy laughed, looking back to the map.

Nicole looked to the back of his head and shook her head in disbelief, _how are they all so oblivious? Then again, it's not too obvious yet._

"Guess I'll crash in with the Earps," Nicole laughed,

"Good idea," before he could say anything else his phone began ringing, "ah, I'm sorry, I've got to..."

"No, no, it's okay," she smiled and turned to look back at the maps.

Nicole surveyed over the intricate paragraphs of writing that accompanied the vigorous scribbles dotting and weaving across the maps. This wasn’t good. Most of it was gibberish to her, however, some things caught her eye. Obviously the whole 'Isn't that near your house?' thing shook her a little and upon further inspection, on the area Jeremy had worked out, she really cursed him for how smart he was. His sentence about using previous sightings really unsettled her as she looked over the marked stars drawn in sharpie that represented these locations. She'd been almost everywhere, yet the worst part was that she barely remembered it.

When in _that_ form, she chooses to sit back and relax behind the wheel and only attempt to take charge if needed. That said, "taking charge" is much like fighting a monster with a stick: it's nearly stupid to try. Occasionally, she's gotten herself back. She has noted that the smell of Belladonna, a nightshade that is poisonous to her kind, doesn't sit well with the beast and that gives her an opportunity to take the wheel again, but it's mostly short lived. All that aside, still at the front of her mind was how in hell would she dodge the group and not bail on them for the "big night".

"Oh-Nicole!" A voice so tender to the ear and gentle to the mind came up from behind the cop.

Nicole turned around and her breath hitched. It always did when she saw her. Across the room was her lover, Waverly, with a tray of coffees balanced on her hip while being held with one hand and stacks of folders under her free arm. Her goofy smile and child-like eyes were as vibrant as ever as she approached with a spring in her step, she placed the tray down along with the folders and looked up to Nicole.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" Waverly beamed, pushing up onto her tiptoes to place a firm kiss on Nicole's lips, leaving her wanting more,

"I... drove you here this morning...?" Nicole looked to her girlfriend and upon seeing the slight frown she continued, "but yes, it has been ages,"

"Better." Waverly grinned, "I see you've been looking at the maps,"

"Yeah," Nicole turned to look at them again, trying to keep it casual, while she placed an arm over Waverly's shoulders, "just... looking,"

"It's crazy right?" Waverly almost bounced with excitement, "I mean, this is such a fun case to do... apart from the damages this creature is doing, that's not as fun,"

"Damages?" Nicole urged,

"You're a cop...? You should have heard the complaints of a _wild dog_ damaging properties etcetera?"

"Oh-" Nicole reflected on the numerous phone calls in the early hours of the morning, long after she would've changed back and around the time when people would've woken up, screaming down the telephone about their cars being scratched and their fences being torn down, "those,"

"It's strange how we've never had these problems until recently," Waverly sighed, "there were some years ago, but something seems off about this time,"

"Hmm?" Nicole leaned onto Waverly a little as an overpowering tiredness kicked in,

"I mean... the sightings from around ten, twenty years ago were less... erratic. These still have a pattern... but back then? They seemed to have a purpose. Whoever is doing this just seems confused and lost..."

 _You have no idea,_ Nicole thought.

"God... part of me feels bad, you know... to have to experience that?"

The cop stayed silent apart from a small yawn that escaped her lips, she only gave a stiff nod.

"Aww... are you tired?" Waverly snickered, feeling the deadweight burning into her shoulder that left a prominent ache,

"A little-" Nicole was cut off by another yawn,

"Oh, hey! I got a new blanket after the last one was..." she paused, a red hue coming over her cheeks, "damaged..."

"I told you not to put your coffee on the edge of the bedside table," Nicole sighed, "one jolt of the bed, the coffee was airborne and almost burning your pubes off while I got soaked,"

"Nicole!" Waverly gasped,

"My new kink, getting boiling coffee spilt on me during sex," she giggled, her more jocular side coming out,

"Do you _want_ to sleep on the couch?" Waverly crossed her arms,

"Oh, so I'm sleeping at the homestead now?" Nicole raised a brow and Waverly deflated,

"I mean.. if you-if you wanted to..." she mumbled, losing her bravado,

"Not on the couch, I hope," Nicole smiled,

"I would never really, and you know that," Waverly tugged on Nicole's arm to prompt them to leave, the cop secretly reminisced in the memory of Waverly tugging her arm and leading her to Nedley's office to kiss before Wynonna interrupted: those were simpler days.

"It's happened before,"

"Only because you took Wynonna to a strip joint," Waverly shook her head, surprised Nicole didn't understand that reason,

"Mhmm..." Nicole rolled her eyes and the two found their way outside,

"I missed you the whole night," Waverly glanced up to her girlfriend, a semi-serious look in her eyes.

Nicole grinned to herself as she slipped into her squad car, popping the other door open in a classy manner.

"Why, thank you," Waverly curtseyed and slid into the passenger seat.

The cop started the car and pulled out her spot before taking the familiar drive to the homestead.

It was a pleasant drive. Mildly, jestful and calming at the same time. Silence didn’t last long with these two as Wynonna clearly knew with thin walls. The ride was full of flirtatious conversation and orange beams of streetlights crawling into the car and cascading tall shadows along the dashboard. Trees that looked like giant, ebony creatures lined the tarmac roads and looked like charcoal sketches due to the car zooming past. The limpid environment of drifting fields and collections of forests allowed for a time to defuse and destress before an event. An anecdote of this was the drive to see if Waverly could leave the Ghost River Triangle and prove she was not a revenant-hybrid, there was something so calming about the winding roads and pine trees that gave a sense of validity that it would all be okay. Nicole really needed this feeling as she was sitting across from Waverly, her hands gripping the steering wheel and her mind battling off the monster that could take charge at any moment. She kept repeating a phrase in her head, over and over until it became dull:

It would all be okay.

 

 

 


End file.
